Israel vs. Israel: Right-wing Activists Arrested

Security forces arrested prominent right-wing activists in the West Bank early Thursday, over suspicions they had been monitoring Israel Defense Forces in the region.

To say that Palestinian measures have come to Israel proper would be a bit much (as administrative detention has been applied to Israeli citizens before, such as Kach member Noam Federman), but here we are — more from Haaretz (emphasis added):

Netanyahu approved issuing administrative detention orders for the Jewish extremists, as is usually done with Palestinians suspected of being a security risk.

Moreover, the prime minister approved trying the Jewish activists in military courts , which would effectively expedite their sentencing and make their punishment more severe.

Early Thursday, a joint operation by Israel Police and Shin Bet forces… The arrests took place in Jerusalem as well as in West Bank settlements of Yitzhar, Itamar, Harsha, and Kiryat Arba.

It is not clear if the “orders” refer to the Administrative Detention Order that the IDF enforces in the West Bank against Palestinians or the Emergency Powers (Detentions) Law, though it is likely the latter since the accused are Israeli citizens, not Palestinians.

Arutz Sheva, whose editorial pages strongly oppose the administrative detention of settlers, has a bit more information. The rightists are accused of helping organize the settler protests near Ramat Gilad: “Police said that the six did not actually enter the base, but did organize the group that did.”

Paul Mutter is a graduate student at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at NYU and a contributor to Foreign Policy In Focus.

About

We sniff out issues hiding in the foreign-policy forest and haul them back to the laboratory for inspection. We examine the anterior, posterior, and underside of an issue, as well as its shadows.

This blog provides a commentator with an opportunity to express his or her convictions more forcefully than may be appropriate for an article. If you have unique insight into a foreign-policy (or affairs) issue, please feel free to write a post and send it to editor Russ Wellen at [email protected]